269: About Taking Antibiotics : Gut Health, Probiotics, & What to Eat for Natural Healing

Speaker 1: 0:58

You wake up one morning and you recognize that feeling Uh-oh, I'm not feeling well. Sinus pressure, achiness, maybe even a little fever. It may be time to go see your doctor.

Speaker 2: 1:10

But what if they give me an antibiotic, and how's that going to affect my health? Is there anything special I should do if they start me on an antibiotic? Let's talk about it. Hey sister, welcome to the Power On Plants podcast. Are you tired of staring into the fridge wondering what to eat so you can just feel better? Do you want to avoid spending hours in the kitchen making complicated meals in the name of health? Would you love to leave fatigue behind and finally have the energy to do all the things you want to do? Hi, we're shared in a need to resell Christ. Followers, healthcare professionals, parents of four and big fans of great tasting food. We, too, tried exercising more, eating natural and clean foods, but we still found ourselves struggling with what we thought were changes that come with age or bad genes, and we weren't finding answers to traditional routes. So we dug into the research and created our secret nutritional weapon sustainable plant-based living. The truth is, you can eat more whole plant foods, and it's not hard. You just need the way. That's realistic and delicious so you never feel deprived. If you're ready to enjoy your meals, no longer be held back by your health struggles and actively live your life, then you're in the right place. So grab your favorite plant-based cup of happy pop in those earbuds and let's get started.

Speaker 1: 2:31

Hello there, governor. Welcome back to another episode of Power On Plants. I'm not sure what accent that was. I think I did about two or three there in one sentence.

Speaker 2: 2:41

There might be a reason we didn't go into acting. No that is true, but we can still have fun. Yes, we can. We can still have fun.

Speaker 1: 2:50

And we do.

Speaker 2: 2:51

And we do.

Speaker 1: 2:52

All right. So perhaps you found yourself in a situation where you're not feeling well, a little under the weather.

Speaker 2: 2:58

I hate it when that happens.

Speaker 1: 3:00

I know, thankfully it doesn't happen a lot but it does happen some and you decide I want to go see my health care provider.

Speaker 2: 3:07

I have to say it happens, thankfully, a lot less than it used to. I mean, isn't that one of the most incredible benefits of plant-based eating? Absolutely. We're trying to get into that as we go and why that is, but what we see time and again and have experienced in our own lives is the longer you eat more whole plant foods, the easier you can bite things off. This is the reality of eating whole food plant-based. It's one of the beautiful quote side effects. If you call it a side effect, I think of side effects as negative things, but you know, in this case it's a really positive thing. But let's just say maybe you haven't been eating whole food plant-based long, or you just were around somebody who had some kind of severe bug going down and you caught something and you don't feel good.

Speaker 1: 3:49

And life just happened.

Speaker 2: 3:50

And life happened. You're at the doctor and all of a sudden they pull out a prescription pad and they're writing you an antibiotic. What should you do?

Speaker 1: 3:58

What we know is that most colds kind of quote unquote colds are viral in nature. So antibiotics really do absolutely nothing for viruses. So grasp that for a minute.

Speaker 2: 4:10

Antibiotics do not help fight off viruses and the majority of colds are viruses. We go in many times expecting and wanting an antibiotic. Doctors have been primed for this. Now maybe you're thinking no, no, no, no, I don't need to, I want to be natural. I don't want to take antibiotics. I totally get that. But doctors have been primed and PAs and NPs They've been primed and we know, because we're in that line of work, we know what happens.

Speaker 1: 4:36

I witnessed it firsthand. One of the first doctors that I worked with this was over 20 years ago. He said just give them an antibiotic, it won't hurt them, that's what they're expecting. And so just give them what they want. And then the next time they need something they'll come back to us because we gave them what they wanted. Think about that for a minute Now. There may be some justification in the back of their mind. And I was there 20 years ago. I kind of wrestled with it. I didn't like it. But then you think Well, what if I'm wrong and maybe there is a bacterial infection there or maybe there's one brewing up? Take this antibiotic and then it will help. Now you may be saying okay, jared, but I'm different, because I took the antibiotic and then a few days later I got better. Well, what we know is that the general course of a viral infection is about seven days. So you suffer around for two or three days, say I can't handle this anymore, go see the provider. They prescribe it, you take it. A few days later you're better. You attribute that to the medication, and it may be it is, maybe it's not. Depends on what's going on.

Speaker 2: 5:37

Right. If it is a bacterial infection, it could be that the medication helps.

Speaker 1: 5:41

So we're not telling you don't take it. But in that situation seven days have elapsed, and that would have been the normal course for that viral infection. Anyway, your body would have fought it off. Things got better, the symptoms went away and now you're back to normal.

Speaker 2: 5:56

Right, so maybe you're attributing it to the medication. Your body was just running the course and by day three, four, you started feeling better. Day seven, it's gone because God miraculously created your body to be able to take care of many of these things as they creep back, to fight them off, right?

Speaker 1: 6:13

So in this scenario, I think the first step really would be to ask the provider is this really needed?

Speaker 2: 6:19

Right.

Speaker 1: 6:20

Because if you have a bacterial infection and antibiotics have done wonderful things I mean it used to be years ago when we had pneumonia that people died from it, and now we can save people from that by the medications that we have. If you go into surgery a lot of time well, I think just about every time antibiotics are given preemptively to prevent serious infections as a consequence of that surgery.

Speaker 2: 6:43

Right.

Speaker 1: 6:44

So again, there's a lot of good there, but it's not without its side effects. It's not without its consequences, and specifically by affecting your gut microbiome.

Speaker 2: 6:53

So what we don't want to do is go in and just expect or want an antibiotic, every time going in and thinking, oh, I hope they give me an antibiotic because I want to kick this. And today we're going to share the reasons why that is. Why do you not just want to go in and just immediately want to be put on one?

Speaker 1: 7:08

And the biggest reason is that it will kill some of the beneficial bacteria in your gut, but not just there in your body. Now, like for women, a lot of times when they take antibiotics they get yeast infections, or children or adults may get thrush, which is a yeast infection in the mouth. Why is that? Because it's killing the beneficial bacteria that need to be there that help to prevent those things from developing, from growing out of control.

Speaker 2: 7:33

Because antibiotics aren't selective in what they kill and some are more broad spectrum than others. That means they kill more things than others do. So they're coming in and just wiping out a whole host of bacteria, not just the one we're trying to target. But the interesting thing is, plants aren't that way. So when you get benefits from eating plants, they can specifically target things without wiping out the beneficials.

Speaker 1: 8:00

Right.

Speaker 2: 8:01

So we need to keep that in mind, too, when we're thinking about eating whole food. Plant-based Plants are amazing, so even if you're taking antibiotics, then we'll get into this in a few minutes. Yes, you're going to want to have more of the good stuff.

Speaker 1: 8:13

So they help to get rid of the bad but feed the good. So, yes, plants, in that regard, are the best.

Speaker 2: 8:19

So antibiotics are not selective in what they kill.

Speaker 1: 8:22

Correct, and there are some that are a little more narrow in spectrum, some that are broader in spectrum.

Speaker 2: 8:26

But they're wiping out the good and the bad when they come in.

Speaker 1: 8:29

They do, and many times we use broad spectrum in a scenario where we don't know exactly what it is, because if it's a skin infection it could be several different bacteria. So it gives you something that's broad enough to try to cover for anything that it might be Right, instead of necessarily taking a culture, which back in the day that's what they did, but that takes a few days to get a result and find what antibiotic it's sensitive to. So then we try to give a quote-unquote broad spectrum antibiotic, so that way it's kind of one and done. We give it to the patient and then the problem is taken care of. Meanwhile this can have broad, sweeping implications for your microbiome, because a lot more of it gets affected, since it's a broad spectrum antibiotic. The other thing that factors into this too is also the length of the course of antibiotic. Sometimes an antibiotic only needs to be taken for five days. Maybe it needs to be taken for 14 days. So taking the narrowest spectrum, if you have to, of an antibiotic to take care of the pathogen and then for the shortest duration of time that you can take it.

Speaker 2: 9:29

So these are things that you want to consider when you're talking with your provider and they're prescribing the medication.

Speaker 1: 9:34

So one do you need it? Because if the provider thinks it's viral, they'll say no, thank you, I just want some supportive care.

Speaker 2: 9:40

Like do you really think this is a bacterial infection or do you think it's a viral infection? That's something you should ask. It's important.

Speaker 1: 9:47

Second would be for them to select the antibiotic that's strong enough to get the job done, but not stronger than what you need, because then you end up damaging more of the microbiome than you might otherwise have to. And then, third, look at the length of the course. You only want to take it for as long as is needed.

Speaker 2: 10:05

But when they prescribe it, take it as long as that prescription is for, because otherwise you could do more damage than good.

Speaker 1: 10:13

So if you stop it too soon, Then you may not kill all the bacterial infection, or you may only kill the weak ones, leaving the possibility for a strain to become antibiotic resistant or something of that nature. So take it the way that they've prescribed, but just ask them is this what I need to take it for? And then follow their advice. Now, once an antibiotic is taken, it can create an imbalance within the bacteria in your gut. And what are the potential consequences of this? Well, sometimes it could cause diarrhea, it could cause a yeast infection. There could even be a secondary infection from a bacteria called Clostridium difficile.

Speaker 2: 10:51

You may have heard it called C diff.

Speaker 1: 10:53

Yes, that's the common nickname of it C diff and that can cause really bad problems just because it gives off a toxin that can be damaging to the colon or the cells and the lining of the colon. That's obviously a bad thing. We want to avoid that.

Speaker 2: 11:08

So maybe you're thinking what do I need to do in order to avoid diarrhea and this infection that you're talking about? And maybe you think you need to be taking probiotics. You know we hear a lot about probiotics these days. Is that going to benefit you?

Speaker 1: 11:24

What the studies have found is that for most normal healthy individuals that there really is no difference when taking a probiotic. Now, I said most healthy individuals, people that are more vulnerable, like children under the age of three, elderly, or people that maybe have an intestinal issue like inflammatory bowel disease. They have actually found that those individuals do seem to avoid the diarrhea and the Clostridium difficile or C diff infections by taking a probiotic, but otherwise there really was no benefit to it. So based upon that, we don't really recommend taking a probiotic.

Speaker 2: 11:58

But well, the interesting thing is, though, many of us think we need to be on a probiotic all the time because we hear about probiotics. Take your probiotics, you need the probiotics, and then, when we get sick, we really hear it Take it so that you don't get these infections. And what Jared's saying is these are the specific cases in which the research has shown that it is beneficial. Otherwise, it's not. So not only are you not benefiting your health by always taking it or always starting a probiotic when you take an antibiotic, you're wasting your money. I mean, we don't want you to waste your money, we want to use our resources wisely, so that's why it's important for you to understand these things. So if taking a probiotic is not going to help everyone and you don't fall in that category of the special circumstances that Jared just shared then is there something that you can do when you're taking an antibiotic to benefit your body?

Speaker 1: 12:51

Short answer yes.

Speaker 2: 12:53

I like the short answer there is yes. But it doesn't tell what the answer is so yes, yeah, we gotta know what to do.

Speaker 1: 13:00

The best thing that can be done to help if you need antibiotic is to eat a high fiber diet. Shocking, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 13:08

I know, right, I know we keep coming back around, no matter I want you to notice this no matter what we're talking about on the podcast episode about health, because this is what the nutrition research shows, is what we've experienced, is what we see with our clients every day inside of Power and Plant Society, inside of Pi which, by the way, if you're not in Pi, podcast insiders experience it's our free community. Why are you not in there? We talk about things like this. You can search all the podcast episodes, get in there right now.

Speaker 1: 13:39

It's worth it for that, if nothing else, I think the community is pretty awesome. That is totally worth it, but for the searchability of all these podcast episodes gotta be in there. It's a no brand.

Speaker 2: 13:49

You can sign up if you're not a part power and plantscom forward, slash Pi. That's power and plantscom forward, slash Pi.

Speaker 1: 13:56

Pi is good.

Speaker 2: 13:58

Pi is delicious, but we all love Pi, right? So you need to be a part. But what do you do? What do you do If you're taking antibiotics? The same thing you should be doing when you're not taking antibiotics. Right, it's building your health naturally, and we do that by getting more whole plant foods. Why? Because the other is put the things in there that our bodies need to thrive, specifically here. This is just one thing we're pulling out, okay, but there's a whole host of things in there that work with this one thing. It's prebiotics, prebiotics. We talked about one of those on episode 267. If you haven't heard that, go back and listen to it when this one is over. But these prebiotics are crucial because they're the food for our gut bacteria.

Speaker 1: 14:44

So to optimize this with the high fiber diet, you want to take it before antibiotics, during antibiotics and even after antibiotics.

Speaker 2: 14:53

And by take it you mean eat it, Eat it.

Speaker 1: 14:56

So if you're plant-based, you're already doing that. But what?

Speaker 2: 14:58

they have found you don't need to be taking a supplement, a prebiotic supplement.

Speaker 1: 15:02

No, no, that's what we're saying If you're already plant-based, you're already doing the things that you need to do, so you don't have to buy an extra supplement. Save your money. Save your money, just keep doing what you're doing. But what they've found is that it decreases the microbiome damage, but it also speeds recovery of whatever damage has been done by the antibiotics. So that's the power of eating the fiber.

Speaker 2: 15:23

And all the prebiotics which you're going to be getting by eating a wide variety of whole plant foods. We're going to be talking about that on the next episode More about prebiotics. It's not just about fiber. We covered that well in episode 267. Again, go back and listen to that if you missed it. But in the next episode we're going to talk more about prebiotics. What are they, how do they work, why are they so beneficial and why I need to be getting them into my life every single day as much as humanly possible. Look, this is why you've got to learn how to make whole plant foods simple, enjoyable and taste great. Because when you can do that, you have a sustainable way of living that you absolutely love and there's no deprivation, there's no wanting to go back and you can start feeling better. Your body can heal naturally, so that if something does come up and you do have to take an antibiotic, then your body is pre-prepped for it. Your body is in the best shape humanly possible to be able to make it through that repair and recover optimally. And that's what we want. We all want to feel good. We all want to have optimal health so we can live our best life.

Speaker 1: 16:29

All right. So remember, if you go in to see your provider and they say I'm going to give you an antibiotic, first be sure to ask them do I really need this? And if not, then don't take it If you do realize that this will kill off some of the beneficial microbiome in and on your body. And next, for most healthy individuals, taking a probiotic supplement and the research was not found really to be of any added benefit. And lastly, if you need to take an antibiotic, eat a high fiber diet before, during and after. This will give you the best way to decrease the damage to your microbiome and also speed recovery of whatever damage is done.

Speaker 2: 17:09

And if you're at the beginning of your plant-based journey and you haven't been eating a lot of whole plant foods and you get sick, you think, oh, I've just got sick, I'm sick. You know, I've got something I'm dealing with right now. Don't worry about what happened before. Start from this point and move forward. Start taking those steps to learn how to make it simple for you and the way it's going to work for your real life. Listen, this podcast is filled with over 260 episodes now probably a lot more than that at the time you're listening to it. Get into podcast and side-drages experience so you can search these things and look up what you need to know and spend more importantly than just learning the facts, because there are a lot of facts that we share with you. The most important thing is take simple action. Get into community where you can share what you're doing and learn and grow from each other. And then don't just be there. Really do it. Start sharing, start posting those simple pictures of what you've been eating and trying and the questions that you have as they come up, because every step you take is one to get you one step closer to where you want to be. We look forward to seeing you in the next episode, where we'll be talking about prebiotics, and we hope you have a great week, sen Chan.